there are 4 types of days, normal up day, normal down day,multiple lead changes in uvol over dvol to dvol over uvol,back and forth(no leaders,chop) and a trend day,either uvol or dvol go flat and the other rises all day, a trend day,if you recognize those, you will only do 4 things, buy,sell, scalp or ride ,the best part of your post is that you blame yourself for being wrong, not the market,surprised at the multitudes that haven.t crossed that bridge(imho)You are correct, I should've been short the market in the first hour or so...but I failed simply put, I kept betting on reversal instead of shortly each small rally and pop...but I did not. Anyway, I am not making excuses or justify my action...just doing analysis.
http://i.imgur.com/ogPa2vF.png